Cost of Northern Ireland’s digital care record rises to £400m
- 24 April 2026
- Cost of Northern Ireland’s encompass digital care record system has risen to around £400m, up from an initial £300m estimate
- The Epic system has been rolled out across all health and social care trusts, giving citizens access to a single digital care record and patient portal
- Health minister Mike Nesbitt said the investment was necessary to replace ageing systems and support modern, patient-centred care
The cost of implementing a digital records system for Northern Ireland’s health trusts has soared to £400 million, taking it £100m over initial projections.
All citizens in Northern Ireland have been able to access a single digital care record since May 2025, following roll-out of the encompass patient record system, which was originally estimated to cost £300m.
The Northern Ireland health and social care service partnered with US giant Epic to build encompass, drawing on processes and software from hospitals globally and tailoring them to the country’s needs.
Responding to an assembly question, Mike Nesbitt, health minister, said the total costs for installation and implementation by March 2026 would be £343.6m in capital spending and £56.2m in revenue.
He said: “Significant spend on updating our systems was unavoidable with legacy systems coming to the end of their lifespan.
“The world’s best healthcare providers all have an electronic health record at their centre. We want the best for our population, and, in today’s world, that requires world-class systems based around patients and clinicians.
“Investment in encompass reflects the scale and complexity of replacing region-wide core clinical and social care systems, which are critical to day-to-day service delivery across hospitals, community services and social care.”
In July 2025, Nesbitt told Members of the Legislative Assembly that the system’s costs were likely to rise by £60m to £360m, adding that “non-cash releasing benefits” of the system would eventually reach £51.4m.
Epic’s My Care portal was created to coincide with the move from paper patient records through the encompass initiative, allowing patients and service users to access their health information via the app or web page by creating an account.
They can continue to receive traditional communication such as paper appointment letters alongside My Care and are able to permit proxy access to third parties such as a carer or family member to assist with managing their care if they wish.
The last two trusts to adopt encompass were Southern Health and Social Care Trust and Western Health and Social Care Trust, who went live with encompass on 8 May 2025, enabling anyone who receives health and social care to access the My Care patient portal.
It follows roll-outs at South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust in November 2023, Belfast Health and Social Care Trust in June 2024 and Northern Health and Social Care Trust in November 2024.
